Oprah Shows You Silverstone’s Vegan Shopping List

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by Michael dEstries January 27, 2010
Categories: Eats
Tags: , .

silverstone, vegan

The new Oprah special on where our food comes from hasn’t even hit television yet, but her official site has already dropped some great information on going vegan — including video of Alicia Silverstone doing some food shopping and cooking with Laura Linney. (Score on the brief shot of Annie’s Goddess Dressing — the greatest condiment in my fridge!)

They’ve also revealed Alicia’s shopping list. Check it out after the jump. See any favorites you like?

The List
Follow Your Heart cheese
Vegenaise
Earth Balance butter
Field Roast sausages
Tempeh bacon
Sunrise chocolate chips malt
Annie’s Naturals Goddess organic salad dressing
Brown rice penne pasta
Organic olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Gardein Chick’n Scallopini (meatless)
Amy’s Organics soups
Whole grain rice
Organic EdenBlend Rice & Soy Beverage
Hemp milk
Leafy greens
Maple syrup as a sugar alternative
Rice Dream Mud Pie (Mint is Alicia’s favorite)
Whole grains
Newman’s Own Organics Dairy-Free Newman-O’s cookies
Luna Bar (Alicia likes the chocolate peppermint stick flavor)

About Michael dEstries

Michael has been blogging since 2005 on issues such as sustainability, renewable energy, philanthropy, and healthy living. He regularly contributes to a slew of publications, as well as consulting with companies looking to make an impact using the web and social media. He lives in Ithaca, NY with his family on an apple farm.

View all posts by Michael dEstries →
  • Frank

    Looks pretty much like my grocery list too. However, I’m sure if the maple syrup and the Newman-O’s cookies are vegan. Can anyone confirm this?

    • Maximus

      Maple Syrup not vegan?? It is a syrup from trees!!! Is there some kind of process that makes it not vegan??? and yes, most Newman’s cookies are vegan.

      Better sugar alternative is Brown Rice Syrup. Enjoy!!!

      • http://supercarrot.com supercarrot

        sometimes maple syrup is produced with a few drops of lard to avoid foaming. (but because the lard stays floating and the bottles are filled from below, the manufacturers don’t include it on the label sort of like isinglass and beers. and bone char and sugar.)

      • http://www.thevegangoodlife.blogspot.com/ The Vegan Good Life

        Regarding how ‘vegan’ maple syrup, sugar, wine, etc. are, I think of Kathy Freston’s sound advice in Quantam Wellness:

        “Vegans and vegan wannabees shouldn’t be too concerned about ingredients that make up less than two percent of their meal. You will obviously want to avoid dishes served with meat, cheese, or eggs, but you need not get crazy if there is a dab of butter or whey or other animal product in the bun your veggie burger is served on. You won’t appreciably stop animal suffering by avoiding such minuscule amounts of animal ingredients.”

        I wish more would follow this advice. No one is going to want to purse a vegan diet if they think they have to worry about every scoop of sugar or if they have to consult barnivore at a cocktail party.

        I see Yellowtail red wine at many vegan events. But isn’t flying in a non-organic wine from halfway across the planet causing a lot of air pollution so people can pat themselves on the back for their alleged cruelty free wine? These issues are complex.

      • robert m

        while issues may be complex – the carbon footprint of a product has nothing to do with the veganness of it

        “all man-made material” shoes, for instance are vegan, despite the amount of petroleum used in their construction or to transport them from china

        also the wine’s organicness has nothing to do with being vegan or cruelty-free – satya and national geographic have done a few articles about how many, many organic items actually cause way more suffering – for the third world workers used to harvest them

        but that again has nothing to do with their veganness

        also where a wine comes from has little to do with it’s carbon footprint. here’s an illustration from national geographic that shows the carbon footprint of shipping wine from california to NY is vastly larger than shipping it from Australia
        http://www.drvino.com/2009/04/14/the-carbon-footprint-of-wine-in-national-geographic/

  • Dawn

    Newman-O’s are vegan and come in several varieties: original, chocolate, mint, and ginger-O’s. And as for maple syrup, check with the local producers.

  • Vegn

    Alicia is one of the most talked about celebrity vegans, yet her Oprah interview was awkward and disheartening. Slipping up with cheese? Coming from someone that suggests part of her reasoning for going vegan was due to animal industry and cruelty to meat and dairy animals, it is odd that she would slip up? I am a vegan of over 18 years, and my values are far beyond my taste buds. I’m a laid back person, and people do what they want, but if you are seen as the poster child for celebrity veganism, such statements are ridiculous. If she were vegan simply for health, no big deal, but if you promote animal advocacy, it makes all vegans that stick to their ethical values look wishy washy. To me, this is akin to a dog rescuer/lover occasionally kicking their pet in the face, especially after a glass of wine. The media and critics will love this.

    • http://vegan--japan.blogspot.com/ herwin

      +1. good point.
      cheese and meat is jst the same, maybe cheese (dairy products) are even more cruel for the animal.
      seeing all the cruelty i never will slip p and if if i wold slip up i would be ashamed and never chit chat abot it like its some amsing stuff.
      damn computer, sometimes the “u” fails…sorry.

    • Kimberly

      Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the “cheese” she’s using vegan? I’m assuming the dish she makes in the video was made with the Follow Your Heart Cheese mentioned in her shopping list.

      http://www.followyourheart.com/

  • Robert

    I wonder how much the bill was shopping at WF also no mention of agave. Agave works great in tea.

    • http://supercarrot.com supercarrot

      robert, these things are far more reasonably priced at wholefoods than at regular grocery stores.

      (now as for produce, wholefoods is usually more expensive, but for specialty products, wholefoods is better. it’s because conventional grocery stores don’t sell enough of those products to make it worth their while, that’s why they’re more expensive.)

      • Kristina

        Living in an area with no Whole Foods or anything along those lines, I can definitely testify to the price difference. I visited a Whole Foods while traveling over the summer and was amazed at how much cheaper all of these specialty staples were… I have to shell out almost $3 for a block of tofu, around $5 for Earth Balance (we opt for Shedd’s Soy Margarine, which is almost half the price, but has hydrogenated oils…), and over $5 for a block of Follow Your Heart Cheese (we practically never even buy this).

      • Calla

        Trader Joe’s is still WAY cheaper than whole foods and you can buy organic soy milk, soy ice cream, earth balance, tofutti, agave, beans, produce, rice and other staples, etc. etc. They even began putting “vegan” symbols on their products to make shopping easier. You don’t have to read all the ingredients to their cheaply priced soup, just look for the V.

        Whole Foods has issues with workers rights in addition to their high prices. I’m not an advocate, though I am guilty of stopping by on occasion for an item that’s hard to find elsewhere. I would never do my entire shopping there.

        WAY TOO MUCH $$$$, I agree.

      • http://www.organikook.com OrganiKooK

        You have to know your prices for the items you are shopping for, whether you are shopping at Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Costco, Sam’s Club or the local grocery store. And those prices change. For instance, a tub of Earth Balance at my local health food store runs, currently $5.49/ tub. At my local grocery store, it runs $4.99 per tub. Sometimes on sale for $3.99. But if I haul myself 15 miles to the Whole Foods, it is $2.99 or sometimes even $2.49. Trader Joe’s prices are pretty similar for some of these basics. But once again, you have to know the price! It is a similar story for many vegan basics such as this. So what I do is make a “stock up” trip on my many vegan basics once or twice a month, usually carpooling with my parents. It becomes an “outing”. That way, I am offsetting any extra fuel I may be using to fetch my basics from further away. I also make sure to combine my trip with other stops such as construction donations, and any other stop that suits my fancy at the time!

  • http://www.brandofthefree.net/ Bernadette

    I saw Alicia on Oprah and respect her food choices. The question I have, is how can something that tastes “just like chicken” or “Tempeh bacon” be good for you? I would need to see the ingredients to check for msg and food additives. Maybe I was looking at the wrong brands, but whenever I pick up a “good for you” meatless product, it is filled with chemicals and additives. But again, I respect her for making changes in her life for her health and her commitment to the ethical treatment of animals. I eat meat, however I eat REAL food, stay as FAR away from processed food as possible!

    • Quinne

      I think, since this was a show aimed at people who are not yet vegan, some of her suggestions are for transitional products, and are not meant to be full-time replacements. Seitan, which (to me) tastes only sort of like chicken, is wheat gluten and little else. Tempeh by itself is very healthy, but I suspect that the additives that make it taste like bacon (smoke flavoring, for instance), while still better for you with tempeh than with actual bacon, should probably not be a long-term staple.

    • Weaver

      Those foods aren’t necessarily “good for you,” but they’re “less bad” for you. They’re pretty low in fat, but since they’re highly processed, they tend to have a pretty large amount of sodium. They also certainly aren’t going to pack much nutritional power per calorie, unlike fresh fruits and vegetables. I’ve been trying to find video of this Oprah show, but after reading this food list, I feel a lot less interested. I’m vegan, and occasionally buy some processed thing as a snack, but her whole diet appears to be a bunch of processed junky stuff. I think the biggest thing we can do for our health – whether we’re vegan or not – is eat food that has not been processed. Organic and unprocessed is even better.

      • veg_police

        sorry but unless you eat raw…its all processed. and its a fact that a “processed” tofurky sausage is more “nutritious” than an unprocessed banana.

    • Beth Ann Senderak

      You eat “real food?” Meat is not food. Your “meats” are actually the flesh of living beings with hearts and feelings.

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  • Donna

    I love this article, thank you for posting the list :)

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